‘The Friend’: Naomi Watts and Bill Murray Postpone Grief Through a Sensitive Great Dane

Tony Sokol

Midway through “The Friend,” writer Iris (Naomi Watts) says children are taught to worry animals will come to bad ends because of fairy tales, and sad fictions like “Old Yeller,” “The Red Pony,” and their counterparts “White Fang,” and “The Call of the Wild.” Literature holds a strong influence over the deceptively profound independent motion picture. Adapted from Sigrid Nunez’s novel, co-directors David Siegel and Scott McGehee gently examine grief through the eyes of dog owners and a dog. Renowned author, and socially cancelled teacher, Walter Meredith (Bill Murray) bequeaths a Great Dane named Apollo (played by a canine actor named Bing) to his much-surprised best friend. The beloved-animal-tearjerker stops short of doggie heaven.

“The Friend” very subtly rolls the typical orphaned-dog-story premise over on its side. The film’s emotional support animal is not the Great Dane, but Iris, which is why Walter chooses his former student and best friend. Walter knows the dog will need Iris. Of the grieving writers assembled for goodbyes, Apollo is the most vocal in mourning; his accustomed habitat is gone; and was already abandoned before Walter found him. Watts brings gentle empathy along with the support. Iris accepts Apollo as partner in grief, with lingering emptiness mirrored in each other. This is a completely natural performance, and Watts remains steadily subtle, but not unmoved.

Walter allows Murray to dig deep into the cynicism of old school authors, epitomized by his quote “the more suicidal people there are, the less suicidal people there are.” This is offset by apparently gleeful reverie in the companionship of the loyal rescued pet, which is then undermined by a large helping of artful ambiguity. We like Walter instantly, in no small part due to the familiarity and resonance of the now iconic actor giving him life, and enduring after death. Murray doesn’t have much screen time, but there isn’t a scene without Walter’s presence. No gathering is complete without his numbered ex-wives, Elaine (Carla Gugino), Tuesday (Constance Wu) and Barbara (Noma Dumezweni), and their antagonistic memories. Every literary reading bears Walter’s signature. His scent lingers on a T-shirt the dog keeps close. Walter’s grip is on every leash.

The growth in understanding, compassion, and acceptance shown by the dog is impressive, especially in how gradually the directors manage to capture the stages in the evolution of acclimation and trust. It is a telling contrast, however, how Walter’s adult daughter, Val (Sarah Pidgeon), immediately lays right on top of Apollo without a care in the world, and how that lesson is lost on Iris for so long.

Bleecker Street Media’s official site classifies “The Friend” as one of their “Street Films,” and makes its neighborhood proud. As with many movies based in New York City, the city is a character. A vast majority of scenes are lower Manhattan exteriors. Shot by cinematographer Giles Nuttgens, each location is beautifully photographed, and perfectly framed. In a subliminal flash of foreshadowing, Walter opens the film rhapsodizing about the wondrous dog perfectly centered across the city’s architecture. At the close, we finally see the life-changing moment. The camera catches Apollo from below, underneath the Manhattan Bridge, a living monument against blue and grey.

The interiors offer a taste of the limited space of Manhattan real estate, and rental laws. Iris’ rent-controlled apartment on Washington Place is treated reverently as prime real estate, with Washington Square Park a few steps away, and buyers eager to pay three times what Iris is paying. The apartment belonged to Iris’ father, and the most pressing conflict of the film is the toughest decision a New Yorker might be forced to make: the apartment or the dog?

Watts explores emotional possibilities with intense curiosity, and from vastly different perspectives. The choice is brought up quite a few times, each affording a fresh chance to react according to the different periods in the relationship between Iris and Apollo. The roommates have their ups and downs.

A Great Dane in the city is a fire hazard on an elevator, a potential Hansom Cab on the street, and the elephant in any room. It can’t be ignored, avoided, or contained, and no one wants to talk about it. Until everyone can’t shut up about it. Iris’ neighbor (Ann Dowd) starts it off with: “There’s a pony on your bed.” Building manager Hektor (Felix Solis) goes full Jiminy Cricket in reminding Iris about eviction threats. The contagion leads to an amusing homage to the mismatched cinematic cast-outs of “Midnight Cowboy.”

“The Friend” also works in its simplest form: a cookie-cutter animal-adoption tearjerker which solves both a deep emotional loss, and a publishing deadline, solved by a probing and analytic story of the caring of “the king of dogs” by a self-proclaimed cat person. The film also challenges the best intentions with anger, resentment, and deep mourning, mirrored in the eyes of a grieving dog who parallels its owners’ emotions.

“The Friend” releases March 28 in select theaters and April 4 nationwide.